The invention relates in general to armaments and more particularly to muzzle brakes for gun tubes.
Large caliber weapons produce significant recoil energy during a firing event. Muzzle brakes are employed on these weapons to reduce the recoil energy, thereby allowing the overall weapon system to be reduced in weight. This weight reduction of the system may increase the system transportability by air and land.
Muzzle brakes operate to reduce recoil energy by redirecting propellant gases rearward to reduce the recoil energy of the cannon. The redirected propellant gases serve to balance some of the recoiling energy of the cannon during a firing event.
However, the incidence of this propellant gas upon the crew may have a direct negative effect on the crew. This negative effect of this redirected gas is call blast overpressure (BOP). High BOP levels may have severe adverse effect on the crew including significant hearing damage and damage to other body organs. Accordingly, many military organizations limit the amount and intensity of BOP exposure. For example, the U.S. Department of Defense uses the MIL-STD-1474E standard to determine the level of BOP that poses a danger and the permissible exposure levels of BOP per day.
Past solutions to mitigate BOP effects in muzzle brakes involved reducing the efficiency of the muzzle brake. The design trade-off between efficiency and BOP is not acceptable in situations involving a relatively lightweight system shooting highly energetic ballistics with exposed operators.
Accordingly, a need exists for a high efficiency muzzle brake which reduces recoil forces on the cannon during a firing event while simultaneously ensuring crew safety by alleviating the adverse effects of blast overpressure on the crew. In particular, a need exists for a high efficiency muzzle brake with low BOP effects in a large caliber weapon system, such as a 155 mm artillery weapon.
In addition to the problems posed by BOP, current muzzle brake designs also have downside as they are not suitable for modern weapon systems. Advances in weapon range and propellants necessitate the need for a more efficient solution to redirect high speed gas flow. In addition, a vane structure which is easily defined for manufacture is required. A need therefore exists for a muzzle brake with a vane assembly which aggressively redirects high speed gas flow in an efficient manner and which comprises vanes having an easily reproducible profile.